Party in parks

More yarnbombing.
This is for a tree in a park, commissioned by the council for a series of events at local parks. Colourful stripes is the call. Install for January 2013.

Nooooo!!!!

With horror, I have discovered I've used two shades of white on the squares for my heirloom blanket. White and an off white! Eek! The perils of crocheting at night.
I'm putting this project away for a bit to mull over what to do: continue with one white or mix it up. Not huge on the latter as it wasn't the look I was after.
But I may just start over anyway as I am totally bummed.
Like I said, I will think about it for a while.

First sewing project

First attempt at sewing a pattern from scratch. A bit scrappy, but I think it should hold. My two year old will test drive it seeing as it is for her. We'll see how long it lasts!

Yarnbombing work.

My yarnbombing contributions.
On the left, pieces to cover a bike for a French documentary.
On the right, work in progress for granny squares covering an avenue of trees. Mine will have a rainbow theme. I am aiming for 9 sets, so I have 7 more rainbows to go! The install is not until May 2013.

First patchwork quilt

I'm contemplating making a quilt for my daughter. Another keepsake other than the crochet granny square blanket currently under construction (I'm halfway making all the squares!!).
So this was my first attempt, self taught. Am thinking of doing a class next year though. Always better when someone can show you tips and tricks.
I just used YouTube and I bought a book. My Mum was great at sewing and quilting, but she's not here on this earth to help me, or to make one for her grandaughter, so I guess it's up to me! I used her old stash of fabrics so there's a little of her in this :)
Its pretty scrappy and the lines aren't straight, and the squares aren't 'square'! And the binding is just dodgy, but now I've got the principles at least! Now to work on the technique.

Nappy cake

For a friend's baby shower.
Had a lot of fun researching techniques and putting it all together.

First Square

Seems like this yarn turns out smaller squares than my sample, so I will have to make more squares. Aiming for about 262. Took me an hour this square, but I was making sure I was doing it perfectly! I think I will have to resort to doing parts in bulk as they suggest. So you get into the groove of doing one part, and doing it repetitively and you get better at it as you go. Should mean you start doing them more efficiently. But I like to see the end product... we shall see which way I will resort to.

Yarn!

Finally picked my yarn and colours. I'm using Adorn Silky Merino DK in various colours, and I'm going to use a 5mm hook. Ten colours plus cream instead of white.

Colours and yarn.

Gawd, and I thought choosing the colours were going to be the difficult bit.

Which type of yarn should I use??!

Well definitely not the itchy scratchy stuff. I could go for this yummy merino...

But they are $9.90 a ball!!!

I could opt for these wool blend ones for $4.90 but they aren't as soft and snuggly...

Both have a nice range of colours at least.

I guess its all about how much I want to spend, in the end. Who knows how much it'll be by the time I complete it.

Joining in

I've discovered yarn bombing.

Look it up.

It'll be easier than GeoCaching... look that up to!

Now to do my first yarn bomb...

Size matters

I've worked out that my blanket will consist of either 168 or 224 squares.

If I manage to do at least one square a day, it won't take 2 years!

Colours, colours, colours!

I'm so confused!

I thought I had decided on a rough colour scheme, similar to this:

But then I discovered this in my research, and I quite like this too. Ooh dilema!

Ragdoll

I also want to attempt a ragdoll like this, using fabric from the clothes my daughter has outgrown.

442

This blanket consists of 442 granny squares!! Looks lovely. Not sure if the blanket I'm attempting will be this large; certainly not a double anyway, maybe a generous single size though.

A pattern I like

Ok, I think I've decided on the design of the granny square.

Its basically the same as my inspiration image. It's called the 'Sunburst Granny Square' and its chunky.

A lot more challenging than the basic granny square but I like it as a design better. Besides, this is going to be an on-going project with no near future deadline (my baby girl is not even 2 years old) so I can just plug away at this for a couple of years.

Now to decide on colours...

Granny Squares

I used to think granny squares were daggy. But having done some research on the net, I have found some more "modern" looking designs that appeal to me. Its all about the colour palette.

There are so many designs for granny squares. So I thought I would practice with the basic granny square, and to reacquaint myself with the crochet needle.

So the basic granny square is easy-peasy to do. But a little boring and not very substantial in terms of being a cosy throw. But as I said, its all about the colour choice, like this:

New project

So I have decided to make a blanket/throw for my little girl.

I'm no quilter but I do crochet. So an afghan is the only thing I can create for her and maybe she can pass it on to her children! Well, I guess we'll see about that.

But here is my inspiration:

Bird feeder

So we inherited a woodpile when we bought our house.

We have many native birds about the neighbourhood and wanted to encourage a few more. So I decided to make a bird feeder out of the scrap wood. Its a little rough (or "rustic"), but I designed it myself and made it from scratch. Now we're just waiting for the birds to discover it.